The 7x57 mauser is a good choice. Factory loads have about half the recoil of a 30-06 and only travel about 200 fps slower. You could also use Hornady Light Magnum loads, with a 140 gr SST traveling at a tad over 2900 fps it is an awesome deer gun. My Ruger #1 shoots under 1" at 100 yards. Hand loading you can duplicate the Light Magnum loads with a variety of bullets. Some of the pros consider the 7x57 mauser to be the perfect deer gun, more than capable of shooting out to 250 yards.